Chelsea in Euro - Round 1 - Group Stage

The Blues are represented by eight players in Euro. Three each play for Portugal and France while there's a Chelsea player each in Czech Republic and Germany. I will try to assess the performance of these players here after every round of matches.

Petr Cech vs Switzerland
The mighty goalkeeper, arguably the best in the world, was what stood in between Switzerland and an upset win for them. Cech made some great saves from close and long range shots, thus giving maximum points to Czech in a match which was dominated by the Swiss. He was lucky on one occasion when he punched a long ranger straight into the forward's path but the forward was signaled offside.

Ricardo Carvalho vs Turkey
Turkey didn't pose a great threat to Portuguese defense which had three Chelsea men in the backline of four. Carvalho wasn't troubled much and he played a neat game. He was solid at the back and posed a great threat to Turkey during Portuguese corners.

Jose Bosingwa vs Turkey
Bosingwa was one man who I was keen to watch after his 16m move to Chelsea about two weeks ago. Bosingwa remains Chelsea's only summer buy. Bosingwa was solid in defense and keen to go forward. He had the pace to trouble the defense with his runs through the right wing. But I would wait to see some matches from this fullback before making any concrete statement about him, though one must appreciate his performance where he kept both Nihat and Tuncay quiet.

Paulo Ferreira vs Turkey
Ferreira was played out of position as the left fullback, and played like he always does. Good in attack and defense, but nothing spectacular. With Bosingwa also in the Chelsea squad now, its not clear whether it will be Ferreira or Belletti who will leave. It would be interesting to watch three rightbacks in the sidelines and Essien playing there. Well all that would depend on the new manager. Ferreira had a decent game and was not tested much.

Micheal Ballack vs Poland
After all that the Polish press printed about him, Ballack showed why they feared him. 'Ze German' marshaled his troops perfectly as they marched to a victory over the Poles. He was magnificent along with Frings in the central midfield and came close to scoring on a few occasions, notably the one in which Lahm's cross was hit powerfully towards the goal, only for the goalkeeper to make a fine save.

Nicholas Anelka vs Romania
Anelka played like he always plays for Chelsea. He missed the half-chances that came his way and was almost invisible throughout the match. His header that sailed past the bar was one of the few notable highlights of the first half. He was understandably substituted by Domenech midway through the second half.

Claude Makelele vs Romania
Makelele played his part well. He didn't allow the Romanians to score. He made a few awkward tackles but that's expected of this aging midfielder. On some occasions he went forward as well when the French desperately wanted the goal. I also saw him drift wide once, something that he rarely does in the opposition half. Lehmann didn't look all that comfortable and would have loved the services of Makelele in front of his defensive line.

Florent Malouda vs Romania
Malouda was one of the few players on the pitch who brought some magic and liveliness to the otherwise boring match. He played better than he usually plays for Chelsea. He also showed some quick feet when he bamboozled the defender, and made space to shoot but shot wide. Overall he was good, or maybe the overall lack of standard in the match made me feel Malouda was good.